Watch Dogs is already a huge success and its official launch . The much anticipated console game produced by Ubisoft is said to have set a record for the most pre-sale copies sold for a next-generation video game.
Some stores are opening their doors already tonight to allow customers to pick up pre-orders. Others have jumped the gun altogether and already started selling. Pirated copies are also coming out through torrents- but for a price.
Many are laced with malware, as is common when sharing files this way. For some, it’s the blue screen of death. For others, a severe slowdown in system performance is observed. Their systems are turned into bitcoin miners, their CPU or GPU resources being drained to solve algorithms and send off bitcoins to some address. Systems used for this level of gaming are particularly fertile grounds for such attacks.
The virus installs two files, one called “ltc.exe”, which mines for bitcoins.
This is the latest in a string of stories involving invasive mining, including , and .
Ironically, the game itself is quite fitting for the world of Bitcoin. The main character, Aiden Pearce, is a former thug turned hacker looking to break into Chicago’s main operating system, which is controlled by a corrupt government monitoring its citizens’ activities (although it’s unlikely that he plans to mine bitcoins in the process).
Interestingly, the game’s popularity seems to arise from its setting- a city with severe corruption problems and a man equipped with the technological know-how to liberate the people. Many bitcoiners can relate.
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